Understanding the Dynamics of EngagingIinteraction in Public Spaces

1 Department of Information and Media Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Aarhus University, Aarhus University2 Center for Digital Urban Living, Faculty of Humanities, Aarhus University, Aarhus University3 School of Communication and Culture - Information Science, School of Communication and Culture, Arts, Aarhus University4 School of Communication and Culture - Information Science, School of Communication and Culture, Arts, Aarhus University

Abstract:

We present an analysis of three interactive installations in public spaces, in terms of their support of engagement as an evolving process. In particular, we focus on how engagement unfolds as a dynamic process that may be understood in terms of evolving relations between cultural, physical, content-related, and social elements of interactive environments. These elements are explored through the literature on engagement with interaction design, and it is argued that, although valuable contributions have been made towards understanding engagement with interactive environments, the ways in which engagement unfolds as a dynamic process remains relatively unexplored. The analysis provides concrete examples of how engagement evolves, and, more specifically, proposes that we may understand engagement as a product of transformations of the four above-mentioned elements, as well as the relationships between them.